China on Sunday launched a 100 billion yuan ($14.6 billion) Internet investment fund.
The Cyberspace Administration of China and Ministry of Finance fund will support Internet companies and the Internet Plus action plan via equity investment, according to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), one of the largest investors in the fund.
The fund has already raised 30 billion yuan ($4.34 billion) from state-owned banks and enterprises, including the ICBC, which invested 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion).
The ICBC, together with the China Development Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China, will provide financial services and 150 billion yuan ($21.69 billion) of credit to enterprises that have attracted investment from the fund.
The China Internet Network Information Center claims that China's Internet population has hit 731 million last year, with 695 million of them using mobile devices.
(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2017)